Japan’s first robot bartender has started presenting drinks in a Tokyo bar in a test that could usher in a wave of automation in restaurants and shops battling to hire staff in an aging society.

The repurposed industrial robot serves drinks in is own corner of a Japanese bar worked by restaurant chain Yoronotaki. A joined tablet PC face smiles as it talks about the climate while getting ready orders.

The robot, made by the organization QBIT Robotics, can pour a beer in 40 seconds and mix a cocktail in a minute. It utilizes four cameras to monitors clients to analyze their appearances with artificial intelligence (AI) software.

“I like it because dealing with people can be a hassle. With this you can just come and get drunk,” Satoshi Harada, a restaurant worker said after ordering a drink.

“If they could make it a little quicker it would be even better.”

Discovering laborers, particularly in Japan’s service sector, is set to get significantly increasingly troublesome.

The government has eased visa restrictions to attract more foreign workers however organizations despite everything face a work lack as the populace shrinks and the number of individuals more than 65 increments to over 33% of the aggregate.

Service organizations that can’t relocate abroad or take advantage of automation are more vulnerable than industrial firms. In health care alone, Japan anticipates a shortfall of 380,000 workers by 2025.

Japan wants to utilize the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games starting on July 27 to showcase service robot technology, with organizers planning to utilize robots worked by Toyota Motor and Panasonic Corp to support guests, laborers, and athletes.

The robot bartender preliminary at the bar, which utilizes around 30 individuals, will last two months after which Yoronotaki will evaluate the outcomes.

“We hope it’s a solution,” Yoshio Momiya, a Yoronotaki manager, said as the robot bartender served drinks behind him.

“There are still several issues to work through, such as finding enough space for it, but we hope it will be something we can use.”

At around 9 million yen ($82,000), the robot cost as much as employing a human bartender for three years.